Aussie nuclear towns have been revealed in Dutton energy plan

Peter Dutton has unveiled exactly where he wants to build nuclear power plants in Australia.

Peter Dutton has unveiled exactly where he wants to build nuclear power plants in Australia.

Peter Dutton has unveiled where he wants to build nuclear power plants in Australia as he rolls the dice on his biggest gamble as opposition leader.

The Opposition Leader will pledge to build two nuclear plants between 2035 and 2037.

Coalition MPs say there are seven sites on the list with at least two to be built before 2035.

Gladstone in Central Queensland is listed as a site where the Coalition pledges to build nuclear plants.

The locations include Gladstone in Queensland, the Liddell power station in the Hunter Valley of NSW, Loy Yang in the La Trobe Valley, Victoria, Callide in Queensland, Muja in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.

The proposal would see the nuclear power plants owned by the government under the same set-up as entities such as the Snowy Hydro scheme.

Announcing the sites today Mr Dutton said it was all about delivering cheaper, cleaner, electricity.

“I want to make sure that the Australian public understands today that we have a vision for our country to deliver cleaner electricity, cheaper electricity and consistent electricity,’’ he said.

“This is a plan for our country which will underpin a century of economic growth and jobs for these communities.

“The assets will be owned by the Commonwealth, a very important point.”

The Liberal leader said he was not concerned the states may oppose the plan.

“We’ll work with the state premiers. As you know, somebody famously said I would not stand between the Premier and a bucket of money, and we’ve seen the premiers in different debates before where they’ve been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth and will be able to address those issues.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the controversial plan was about “hope”.

“Peter Dutton has had the courage and conviction to come forward to stand forward and show a different way for Australia,’’ Mr Littleproud said.

“That takes leadership and strength in leadership. And a vision for our country where Australians will once again own some of their generation of power in this country.

“It is about a vision for regional Australia. One that is not covered in solar panels and wind turbines...but gives them hope.

“It is a vision for the men and women who are in our coal-fired power stations across our country in the Latrobe, in Collie, Port Augusta, the Hunter, Lithgow, Callide.

“It’s time for strength and leadership, time for the Coalition to take over to lead our nation away from this madness of the renewables only approach.”

‘Pure insanity’: Dutton’s nuclear plan trashed

Queensland is set to emerge as Australia’s nuclear capital state if Mr Dutton is elected with the Coalition set to announce plans for up to state-owned reactors in his home state.

It’s understood Coalition MPs were briefed on the nuclear plan at 8.30am on Wednesday ahead of a press conference announcing two to three potential sites.

Even the shadow cabinet was kept in the dark over the exact location to protect against leaks although the MPs whose electorates are impacted have been briefed.

Queensland’s Tarong Power Station is earmarked by the Coalition as a nuclear power site.

At least one is an existing Tarong coal-fired power station near Kingaroy in Nanango, which is in Nationals leader David Littleproud’s electorate of Maronoa. He will also be at the announcement press conference.

Other areas raised as potential sites include the Hunter Valley and Mt Piper in New South Wales, Port Augusta in South Australia, Collie, south of Perth, and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.

Speaking on ABC radio, Treasurer Jim Chalmers slammed the plan as “economically irrational” and “fiscally irresponsible”.

“Peter Dutton’s nuclear negativity is economic insanity, pure and simple,’’ he said.

“Nuclear takes longer, it costs more, and it will squander Australia’s unique combination of advantages. It is the worst combination of economic and ideological stupidity.

“It is economically irrational, it is fiscally irresponsible. And it means if it’s implemented, Australia would fail that grab these vast economic and industrial opportunities with a net zero transformation in the most effective way.

“Only a couple of weeks ago, the Shadow Treasurer was saying he would only support them on the basis that they were commercial. Now we know that they’re proposing for the government to run them so he’s obviously been rolled in quite a public and humiliating fashion here.”

It comes after news.com.au first revealed Mr Dutton’s plan to announce the nuclear sites.

In recent weeks Mr Dutton told The Weekend Australian that he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target, a 43 per cent cut compared with 2005 levels, at the next election but remain committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

He conceded that the coalition’s commitment to introduce nuclear power in Australia would not lead to plants being built before 2040.

Mr Littleproud confirmed those nuclear power plants would be in Nationals electorates.

Peter Dutton is set to announce his long-awaited nuclear energy policy including several proposed sites and has called an unscheduled meeting of the shadow cabinet to finalise the plan. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“We will be very upfront and honest. They will be in National Party seats,” he said before attacking Labor’s renewables approach to green energy.

“We’ve been very clear that they will be limited to where existing coal power stations are, so we don’t need the extra 28,000 of transmission lines to plug the renewables in which tears up the food security and pushes up the food prices.”

Critics claimed that Mr Dutton’s new position could break Australia’s 2015 commitment to the Paris agreement, under which nearly 200 countries said they would aim to limit global heating to well below 2C and attempt to limit it to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Anthony Albanese then called Mr Dutton’s stance “absurd” and suggested he would be “walking away from the Paris agreement”.

Mr Dutton said this was not the case and he would not be walking away from the Paris agreement.

He later told 2GB radio: “It’s very hard in opposition – without all the modelling and the advice from government – to put an exact figure on the table.”

Mr Dutton also said Labor’s targets, which he previously supported, would “trash” the economy.

“I think it’s very clear that we have absolute commitment to Paris and our commitment for net zero by 2050,” he said.

“It’s important, it doesn’t need to be linear, as we’ve pointed out, and we’re not going to send the economy into free fall and families bankrupt through an ideologically based approach, which is what Anthony Albanese is doing at the moment.”